Coking-oven.



L. L. SUMMERS.

OOKING OVEN.

APPLICATION FILED 113.11, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. iafented May 9, 1911.

IN V ENTOR.

WITNESSES: I 6 4 7&3. d

A TTORNE Y.

' L. L. SUMMERS.

- GOKING OVER. APJLIOATION mum ms. 11. 199a. Q

992,078. A Patented May 9, 1911.

4 BHBETSBHBBT 3.

wrrzvassss: INVENTOR.

A 7TORNE Y.

Zia ail J UNITED STATES ILATENT OFFICE.

LELAND L. SUMMERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 CONTINUOUS PROCESS COKE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COKING-OVEN.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented hlay 9, 1911.

Application filed February 11, 1908. Serial No. 415,378.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that- I, Lizmxn L. Sonnnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coking-Ovens, of which the following is a specification.

The ohiect of my invention is to provide an improved coking oven, and, among other features of construction and operation, to provide means for vertically transmitting heat to coal contained in a closed retort, thereby securing coke of a compact formation. In order to accomplish this result I construct the top of the retortin the form of a hollow arch, making the retort preferably of considerably greater width than height, and so regulating its height that I heat may readily be transmitted to all parts of the interior by vertical transmission from fines above and below.

Myinvention further relates to means .whereby the coal may be continuously fed and the coke continuously discharged from the retort and whereby the greatest heat is applied to the retort at the discharge end.

'. the heat progressively decreasing toward the receiving: end. thus avoiding the possibility of chilling the most highly heated part. of the retort by fresh coal.

As is well-known the escape of the volatile products from coal, which escape takes place in a vertical direction gives rise to fissures in the body of the coke, such fissures resulting; in causing the coke to form in fingers, This is especially the case when the coal is di tilled in rctorts of a type which is old in the art. In the ordinary vertical ov n the rctorls are comparatively narrow, having a width of from ten to twenty inches with a height of from live to seven feet and a length of from tvmnty to thirty feet. ln such rclorls the heat is applied at the sides, as distinguished from the top and bottom as in my improved furna e. and tho-comparatively great height of the vertical rctm'ls renders it necessary for the liberated products of distillation to pass through :1 large body of the. material being coked before they finally escape at the top of the furnace. 'lhisgrivcs rise to vertical fissures in the coke. and the coke is further disintegrated by horizontal fissures becau e of the horizontal transmission l heat. it being found in practice that the coke will disinteratc alon" lines lvin' in the direction of 2: v is heat transmission. .ln tho-vertical ovens the hunt is transmitted at a right an le to the line of escape of the products of istillation, thus giv' is; rise to two sets of fissures, and breaking the coke up to an undesir-able extent.

It is one of the objects of my invention to i heating the air used to support combustion in the heating furnacrnsuch means including a system or systems of fines leading from the less highly heated receiving end to the more highly heated discharge end. The air llues preferably lie outside of and adjacent the heating fines.

Further improvements consist in the form of construction of my oven whereby the heating or combustion lines. which are more subject than other parts of the oven to dcterioration, are supported iinlependently of the main structure portion of the oven and in such manner as to be readily renewed.

Another feature of my invention consists in means for quenching the coke by discharging the same into a pool of water, the pool of nah-r. or qtu-nching basin, communi ng with the retort and being sealed against the outside atmosphere by a water seal. whereby the steam formed in the process of quenching the coin: is confined within the retort. and thus. by contact with the hot coke. water gas is formed.

My invention also has for its object the provision of means for separating the different by-products by drawing off the gases from diifcrent parts of the retort. such parts having dilicrent temperatures by reason of the system of heating employed.

In the druwings-Figure l is an elevation partly in section of a coking oven constructed according to my invention. Fig. 9 is a plan view partly in section of the oven shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectiou ol the oven on the line f Fig. 1. Fig.1 is a traus\ erse section on the line 4 of Fig. t. Fig. 5 is an end \lLW of the discharge end of the oven partly in section. Fig. (3 is an end view of the receiving end of the oven. Fig. T is':\ fragmentary side elevation partly in section of the discharge end of the oven. Fig. S- is a fragmentary sectional view on the line S of Fig. 3.

The outer part of my improved furnace consists of side walls -10 supporting the arch 4]. said arch and side walls inelosiug the operative parts of the retort and rest -aining radiation of heat thQIetIOHL' The retort proper consists of a central chamber 42 extendin from the receivim end 43 to the dis-' charge end 44. In the present. instance I have illustrated a double retort havin two chambers .side by side. hutit may be found prefc able in some instances to use a greater number or a single chamber.

The upper wall of the retort at the discharge end consists of an arch or arches formed of hollow tiles 45. Similar hollow tiles 4.? form the lower wall of the retort at. the discharge end. aid hollow tiles form passage: l9 through which the burned and burning gases pass in the manner hcreina fter descri ed. Resting inuuediately upon the floor ttiot' the furnace are conduits -ti' upon which the. tiles 45. above referred to. are supported. Thconduits 47 may be constrncted of any suitable material. Resting upon thetop of the arch tiles 43 are conduits 13. The tile arches 4.5 are supported upon walls 46 which rest upon the upper .surt'ace of the lower tiles 4?). The side walls 4-0 are lined with firehrick -18 or other suitable material and are formed at their upper ends to take the thrust of the uppe' arches 45. The tiles 4.?) are used at the discharge end of the Furnace. and extend about halt way toward the receiving end, this part of the tarnace. being subject to the highest temperature. .t the receiving end of the furnace the tiles t?) may he replaced by the :ast iron construction -l. shown at the right in Fig. l and in l ig 3. (londnits ll above and below the retort. conuuunieate with each other through vertical'pa sagcs it). The walls between the vertical passages 50 are provided with apertures 25, as shown in Fig. l. .\t intervals. however. continuous vertical walls 11 Fig. :2. are provided.

The necessary heat is supplied by a gas hutnct'. designated gene ally by the nunieral 0. The products of com ustion are discharged into the vertical passages opposite the hunter and pass partly above and partly below theretort t the opposite side where they move longitudinally through the openings 25 until they meet the next continuous wall, whereupon. they move back across the furnace througlrthe c nduits 1:! above and below and o on back and forth until they reach the discharge end of the furnace where they are conducted through a suitable outlet 51 to a chimney or are utilized for any desired purpose. The conduits 13 ahovand below the conduits 1:! are utilized for the purpose or heating the air used to support the combustion of gases in the burner (30. Air for this purpose is admitted through the pipe 10 to both the upper and lower sets of flues i and circulates hack and forth through said lines. as indicated l) the arrows Fig. 8. tinally reaching the discharge pipe 1-1 in a highh heated conditi n. and is then con ducted to the burner t;t) For the purpose. of feeding coal to the furnace l proridc a hopper 3 at. the. receiving end in conjunction with a nun ii. The ram 17 is actuated by a hyd 'aulie. steam o air cylinder 28 mounted upon wheels running upon a track '22 in such manner that the cylinder may be positioned opposite either of the rams 17 for the purpose of forcing material through either of the chambers -12. As illustrated in Fig. 1. coat-ting mem ers It" and are 'l'n'ov'idcd whereby the plunger f the cylinder 15 detachahly engages the outer end of the ranriT.

.\t the di charge end of the furnace I p? vide a quenching ha i 3; containing water 32. The quenching .in .32 is covered at its central portion by a hood 53. said hood.

extending outwardly from the end wall of the furnace proper and downwardly tt) the end wall of the quen hing hasin '52. The side walls 5-t of the hood ext nd downwardly beneath the level of tha- Water in the quenching basin 52. but not to the. bottom thereof. acting as a water seal. The height of the water in the quenching basin 5:? will deter mine the pressure exi ting inside of the hood and retort. .\n endless cmm-yer 30 extending around a sprocket wheel I) and around a similar wheel. not shown. at the opposite end passes over the top of the hood M or otherwise and along the bottom of the quenching elnnnber 5;. Beneath the hood the tloor of the. quenching chamher is substantially lt()1l7.0llt:'rl but outside ot the hood it slopes upwardly. as shown at so. t a levelabove that of -the water. The coke'discharged from the retort is moved upwardly hy the conveyer along the inclined tloor 5t) and discharged at 5? into a car. ou-age bins or other receptacle.

In some instances Y may prefer to remove the coke from the quenching hasin by circulating water thr ugh the bazin employing a current of sutlicirltt strength to carry the coke to the eyterior of the basin.

Leading upwardly from the retortat sev eral pointsalong its length are discharge pipes 13 provided for the purpose of conducting the products ofxlistillation to a system of condensers and washers or purifiers for the purpose of reclaiming separately the. by-products distilled at different temperaare progressively heated during their progdistilled, and as the coal progresses to the tures, the residue or fuel being conducted to the burner 60 for the purpose of supplying heatto the retort in the manner above described;

In operation, coal is fed into the hopper 16 from movable cranes, continuous conveyors or other means well-known in the art, and is then ful'i'tftl through the chamber i2 by means of the ram 17. The burner 50 being located at the discharge end, as illustrated, the maximum heat of the retort will be at the discharge end 44. As the products of combustion circulate to vard the receiving end the heat; will be progressively taken therefrom thus causing the heat of the retort to progressive-i diminish from the discharge to the charging end. At the charge end the tines 1:3 are, as above described, const acted of hollow tiles as' thin as structural considerations will permit. About half way from the discharge to the receiving end of the furnace, or atsome other intermediate point, as determined by special circumstances, the heat of the prodnets of combustion will be decreased to such a pointto permit of the subs itution of cast iron fines for the ho low tiles used at the discharge end. -T he cas iron having superior hea conductivity serves to rapidly con duct :1 large part the remaining heat; of the products of combustion in the surrounding ducts to the interior of the retort, and the parts are so proportioned that a large partof the effective heat is abstracted from the products of combustion before they cseape from the pipe 51.

T he air for the support of combustion is supplied through the pipe 10 at the receiving end of the furnace and circulates back and forth through fines 13 to the discharge end. By means of this construction and operation it will be observed that neither cold coal or cold air comes in contactwith the highly heated 'parts of the furnace, hut. that both air and coal are S1. plied a; the coolest parts of the furnace anu re s toward the point of maximum heat at the discharge end. This mode of operating ovens is conducive to the: durability of the walls of the retort and insures economy in its operation.

As the coal enters the receiving end it receives heat from the fines 12 and after it has progressed a short distance the gases having a low temperature of vaporization will be hotter parts of the retort gases having a higher temperature of vaporization will begiven off, and finally the material will reach the discharge end in the form of coke. The coke is discharged directly into the quenching basin o2. The discharge of the hot c ke l steam, which being prevented from escaping by means of the water seal formed by the hood 53, pas es back into the retort, Where coming in contact with incandescent coke, water gas is formed in the usual manner.

The water gas mixes with the ordinaryproducts ofdlstillatlon -and passes oil through the pipes 15. By this means an increased quantity of gas is formed thus in suring a plentiful supply for the heating of the retortand other purposes. The progressive heating of the coal as it passes toward the discharge end of the retort, in con nection with the use of a plurality of outlet pipes 15 renders it possible to separate to a. considerable extentthe gases having different temperaturesof volatilization and different byproducts it being well known that the various h v'products volatilize it different temperatures.

The interior dimensions of the retortconstitute ore of its greatest advantages. The Width of the retorgor of each chamber of a double-retort is three or fourtimes its. height. Preferably, the height of each chamber is about a foot and a half and the width at each chamber is four or five icet. As illustrated in the drawings, the side walls 46 of the retort chambers are comparatively thick, being so constructed to support the weight of the parts above, While the walls of the tines 12 are thin as structural consider'ations will permit. The transmission of heat to the coal therefore is almost entirely in a vertical direction, this being the direction of escape of the distilled gases. By this means the coke may be obtained in much less broken form than results from the use of vertical furnaces having a heigh greatly in excess of the width and in which the heat is supplied at the sides.

I claim:

1. In a coking oven, :1 retort, flues aboveand below said retort and leading from end to end thereof, said flues being constructed of refractory material at the discharge end of said retort and of material of relativel high heat conductivity at the receiving en and a furnace communicating with said lines atthe discharge end of said retort.

.2. In a continuous coking furnace, a horizontal retort, a roof therefor of hollow tiles into the water in the quenching-basin gives l jacent said first named fines.

rise to the formation of large amount of l 5. In a coking oven, 0. retort of greater width than height moans folzfoi cing material end-.- ise through zxid retort, an exterior arch "have said getorfi, :1 furnace at the discharge 0nd of said rum-.1, hollow tile llucs l'm'uiing the rouf of said retort and communicating with said furnace, and hollow tile air heating ilues above said first named fines, said hollow tile fiues being supported independently of said exterior arch.

- LELAND L. SUMMERS.

Witnesses: I

\VALTER A. Scorn,

CARL A. RICHMOND. 

